Old Bike Meets Old Trail

I've purchased two bikes in the last week or so (the Rockhopper, and a new Vaast A/1 that I will write about soon). So I certainly don't need to be be checking FB Marketplace, but there I was Friday, checking again, and came across this ambiguously labeled ad:

But I could see it was a Zizzo Liberte, a lightweight folder that normally costs about $400. I hesitated a moment or two, but I couldn't pass up the price, and so found myself on Saturday morning driving down to Cincinnati. Since I was going right past Caesar's Creek State Park, I threw the Rockhopper in the trunk to get a ride in on the way home.

This would be my first real trail ride on the old Rockhopper. Mountain bikes have changed a lot since 1996, and going into the ride I thought these would be the biggest changes (most significant to least):

- Riding position and geo: the RH is the typical 71/31 NORBA geometry, with a short wheelbase, and significant drop from the saddle to the bars. New bikes are much longer and slacker, with the rider rotated up and back on the bike. No dropper on the Rockhopper!

- Suspension: the Quadra 21R wasn't a great fork even in 1996, with maybe 60mm of somewhat damped travel from its rubber bumpers. Kid's forks these days have bigger stanchions.

- V brakes are not hydraulic discs

- 26" wheels with narrower tires

- Shimano 3x8 drivetrain, not a modern 1x.

In the actual event, most of my expectations got flipped around:

- The biggest impact on my ride was the drivetrain. Remember chain slap? And chain suck? Those are still a thing, if you ride a bike that's pushing 30 years old. My first bumpy downhill, I was startled by the chain slap noise, and my first climb after a creek crossing came to a quick halt when the chain wrapped around the small ring and wouldn't let go.

Modern drivetrains are a pretty clear win here.

The drivetrain was really my only negative on the ride. Yes, there were some roots that trapped my small wheels, and I ended up pushing up a few hills that I probably could've scooted up on my Vitus full sus bike. And I did walk down one steep part of a hill which I've ridden on modern bikes. But, the riding position was fun! It really did remind me of how riding bikes back in the day. The handling is sharp, which lets you steer around obstacles instead of just plowing through them. Which is a good thing, because the Quadra wasn't at it's best through fast impacts. But the skinny little fork did relieve the impacts to my wrists, and I think replacing it with a rigid fork (common advice for the Quadras) wouldn't let the bike ride as nicely.

The V brakes were fine. They took a moment to scrape clean after creek crossings, but otherwise on this dry trail, no issues at all. Yes, I can't one finger brake. I'm OK with that.

The leaned over riding position helped me to stay on the gas, if only to relieve some of that weight on my wrists. And picking my down rough hills with the seat on my chest and my butt over the rear tire reminded me of how we used to ride.

Caesar's Creek is an old school mountain bike trail, and I was riding it solo. If I was riding with a group, on a more modern trail, the RH wouldn't be my first choice. But still, I enjoyed this ride more than my most recent rides on either my Jones or my NS Eccentric. 

I got home with both bikes and took the Zizzo for a quick spin. It looks like it's never been ridden, but the reach is super short--not like what I recall from my Dahon Speed 7. I ordered up a new step and stem extender this morning, we'll see how that turns out.